Breaking the Barriers of Time
by Sunset Mission
Summary: After losing Amy and Rory, the Doctor reverts to spending his time tinkering with the TARDIS. Which is how he manages to crash through the barriers of time into a bizarre universe. While stuck in this new world, The Doctor runs into Oswin... who, impossibly, seems to remember him.
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor raised a curious eyebrow as he stared at the TARDIS console. Ever since he had parted with Amy and Rory, the ship didn't seem like herself anymore. This sudden change had caused the Time Lord to drop any plans he had until he could get to the bottom of whatever bizarre ailment was affecting his beloved TARDIS.

He had spent two days tinkering around but he still couldn't figure out why she was making such a strange noise. The TARDIS had always made strange noises of all kinds, but that day she seemed particularly troubled. The Doctor wondered if, just like him, she also disliked the sudden silence that was now reigning in the ship.

The Doctor sighed and tried to appease his moody TARDIS by throwing various switches around the console. But the ship refused to cooperate.

"You're being unfairly temperamental lately, aren't you?" he said to no one in particular.

The Doctor realized that maybe the same could be said about him. Since he had found himself alone again, he had stopped travelling the universe, and resorted to staying inside and moping. But maybe it was for the best. He had lived long enough to know that, while time didn't heal all wounds, it certainly helped clear the mind and get it to work properly again. And maybe that's all the TARDIS would ever need to get back to normal. Time.

After pushing a few more buttons and throwing a switch, the Doctor poked his head outside the ship to take a look at where he was. He scratched his head curiously when he realized he was floating in space because, for the life of him, he couldn't remember getting there. Seemed like the TARDIS had resorted to tuning him out completely and just travelling wherever she saw fit.

"Fair enough" The Doctor said, closing the doors back. "Seems you want a holiday. Sometime away from Earth, eh? Might do us both good." He went over to the console to punch in coordinates. "How does the Tesov planet sound to you? We'd catch some lovely weather if we go in January. Those blizzards with falling piranhas are always a treat. Well, as long as I bring the lead umbrella."

A few button presses later, and the Doctor had his coordinates set. The TARDIS rumbled to life, albeit a bit annoyed, and they were on their way. But the Doctor knew it wouldn't be smooth sailing the second his ship began to fly them through the time vortex. Something was wrong, and the Time Lord was thrown to the side as the TARDIS twisted, turned, and sparks began to fly all around.

"I'm willing to admit that maybe the Tesov planet wasn't such a good idea" the Doctor yelled "if'll you please stop being so upset!"

But the TARDIS didn't relent, and the chaos continued, as the Doctor struggled to hold onto one of the bars surrounding the console. Alarms blared, and sparks continued to fly, but what the Time Lord found much more worrisome was the sudden sound of a crash. The surface-tearing sound was something he had only heard a few times before, and he had a hard time pin-pointing what it was.

Luckily, the chaos soon ended after the crash. The Doctor quickly got to his feet and assessed the damage. It looked rather bad as far as ship damage went, but nothing that his TARDIS couldn't regenerate. Easy peasy summer breezy. The Doctor was more curious where he had landed and what that particular and oh so familiar sound he had heard was. After checking to see if he still had his sonic screwdriver, the Time Lord pushed the doors to the TARDIS open. And promptly fell on his face.

It seemed that the ship had landed sideways, and the artificial gravity inside prevented him from taking notice. After getting back up and dusting himself off, the Doctor looked around. The ground was covered in sand.

The ship had landed in an alley during night time, a bit further away from what looked like a very busy street. As soon as he stepped away from the ship, the doors smacked closed, and the Doctor knew that the ship would start to regenerate whatever damage had been done. It seemed like he was stuck outside for the time being.

But the Doctor was enthralled by all the people who seemed to be running around, and he decided to see what all the fuss was about.

As soon as he left the alley, he found himself in the middle of a large area filled with stalls, vendors, customers, and all manner of alien creatures who all seemed excited to be part of such a large bazaar. When he looked upwards, he noticed that the entire area was covered by interconnecting glass domes, which was protecting them from the rain.

The Doctor suddenly realized that he had visited this planet before. He felt a smile creep up on his lips as he looked around him, at the sea of people, aliens, and variations thereof. There were all manner of stalls that sold anything from food to ship parts and things encased in resin that had no reason to exist at all. In the midst of all the clutter, the Doctor felt like he was only a speck, like he could get lost. And after parting with close friends, this was exactly what he needed.

The bazaar, even in its disarray seemed to have a flow of its own. Everyone seemed to be able to shop and look around without causing any distress, and the Doctor easily managed to lose himself in this organized chaos. He settled for sitting at a stall that sold a soup with a particularly alarming shade of purple. The Time Lord was about to pull out his psychic paper when he heard a commotion from nearby. He went over to investigate.

"... well I just think you're trying to rip me off" a female voice said.

The vendor she was talking to - a creature with scales similar to a snake - made a guttural sound.

The woman checked a devise she was holding. "Okay, that was either a _hrrrlln_ of annoyance, or a _hrrrlln_ of 'okay, I agree with you'. Don't suppose you could spontaneously start speaking English, could you?"

The Doctor stopped in his tracks when he got close enough to recognize the red outfit she was wearing.

He narrowed his eyes. "Soufflé girl?"

Oswin turned around, and a smile immediately appeared on her lips. "Chin-boy!" She broke into a chuckle. "We sound like the right bunch of superheroes, don't we? Chin-Boy and Soufflé-Girl!"

The Doctor was in a state of disbelief. "But how- how are you here?"

"Well I dunno about you, but I came here by ship. Didn't think there was any other way of traveling through space, really."

The Doctor couldn't shake the bizarre feeling he was having. "But...you were a Dalek."

"Oy" Oswin said, looking a bit offended, "now I know I've been stuck in a ship for over a year, but I doubt I look as bad as those little robots."

"What I meant to say was that I can't believe you're here. Last I saw you your ship was inactive."

"Well it still kind of is now. Funny how I managed to crash the ship here the second I repair it."

The Doctor rubbed his chin, thinking. Something wasn't adding up. "Oswin, what exactly do you remember from our last meeting?"

"Your memory slipping, Doctor?"

"No, no, just trying to figure out how we both ended up crashing our ships on this exact satellite." The Doctor then added to himself: "And at this exact time..."

"Well, last I remembered I helped you, that red-head, and your dishy friend Rory escape the Asylum. And then when you were supposed to come rescue me, all of you lot just disappeared. I was quite cross with you for a while, but then I ended up pulling the ship apart, looking for a way to restore it."

"And you managed to fix your ship? Just like that?"

"What can I say." Oswin shrugged. "Being a genius with computers tends to help with that kind of stuff." She paused. "Except I'm not sure exactly where I am..."

The Doctor broke in a smile.

"Don't look at me like that" Oswin said, "I told you I was genius with computers, not a geographer. So where are we anyway?"

"This, my dear Oswin" he said, "is Niabb, the third moon of the planet Spite. Also known as the second largest bazaar in the galaxy."

"You mean we're in one of the largest malls in the galaxy and I forgot to bring shopping bags?"

"It's quite the struck of luck that you managed to end up here. You can find virtually anything you'd want on this mood."

Oswin looked at the devise in her hand. "Shame my translator doesn't seem to want to cooperate."

"Well" the Doctor said, "that's because you're trying to barter with a soldier of Niabb. They're not allowed to talk to women of any race."

"Well that's just not true. He was growling all sorts before you came along."

The Doctor lowered his voice. "Actually, he was crying."

Oswin's eyes widened. "I made a soldier cry? I didn't mean to do that. How can I tell him that I'm sorry?"

"I think it's best if we left him alone now" The Doctor said, placing an arm around her shoulders and directing her away.

As soon as they were a considerable distance away from the salesman, the Doctor surreptitiously began to scan Oswin with his sonic screwdriver. But she caught on pretty quickly.

"Are you seriously trying to scan me with that glow stick?" she asked.

"Sonic screwdriver, actually."

"Why would a screwdriver need to be sonic?"

"Why wouldn't it? The universe could be a much more efficient place if everything was sonic, don't you think?"

"What are you scanning me for anyway?"

The Doctor frowned when the scan came out empty. The screwdriver hadn't picked up anything wrong with Oswin. She seemed like a perfectly normal human being. But it didn't make sense why she was right there next to him when he had seen her as a Dalek mere weeks before. Unless...

"Oswin, what exactly do you remember about your crash here?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. It was rather normal as far as crashes go."

"But you didn't happen to hear a specific sound – a sound like a thick piece of fabric tearing right next to your ear?"

Oswin thought for a moment. "Well, I didn't think much of it since I woke up upside-down, hanging from a security belt... but yeah, actually, I heard something like that right before I landed here "

The Doctor snapped his fingers. "I knew it! I knew it the second I landed here, but didn't think it was possible for it to happen again!"

Oswin looked at him like he was a mad man. "What're you on about?"

"Isn't it obvious?" the Doctor asked, looking enthusiastic. "We're in a parallel universe!"

"A parallel universe? Doctor, that's just bonkers. Have you looked up the definition of _parallel_ recently?"

"Yes, yes, I know that no one is supposed to travel to a parallel universe, but it turns out that it is very much possible. I've done it myself quite a few years ago. By accident, but it still counts."

"Really" Oswin said unconvinced, "so then how is this impossible parallel world you visited?"

"Full of zeppelins and crazy devises people attached to their ears – not all that pleasant, actually – but! Oh, was it ever an exciting place to visit. All manner of impossible things happen here. Anything. Absolutely unpredictable."

"Well I still think you're bonkers" Oswin said, though getting slightly infected by the Doctor's enthusiastic disposition.

"That's because you haven't looked around yet." The Time Lord gestured at the edge of the glass dome that encapsulated the area they were in. "Have you noticed that it's raining?"

Oswin narrowed her eyes to take a better look. "Well I didn't think rain was a sign of a parallel universe. Now I feel like my whole life has been a lie."

"Take a closer look" the Doctor instructed.

Though skeptical at first, Oswin obliged. She looked around, trying to spot what the curious man with the glowy screwdriver was seeing. Her eyes widened the second she realized what the Doctor was talking about. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"...it's raining upside-down."

"Bingo!"

"Is it, though? Is it really, properly raining upside-down? Maybe it's just a feature to attract the tourists."

"There's no need for such a thing. Just look around you: Niabb is constantly crowded by people willing to spend their money."

"Oh, this is just mad" Oswin said with a smile. "What else? What other signs point towards a parallel universe?"

"Other than the fact that it's pouring rain on a moon that's entirely covered in sand? Well, let's the vendors."

"This isn't going to cause another one of them to run off crying, will it?"

The Doctor stopped for a second. "Just to be on the safe side, why don't you stand back and observe for now?"

"Look, don't touch?" Oswin asked, sticking out her lower lip. "Well that's no fun."

"Oh I have a feeling you're going to love this next bit."

Oswin arched a curious eyebrow when the Doctor headed towards a human vendor who was selling boring looking decorative pots. The man himself also looked completely ordinary.

"Excuse me" the Doctor said, "could I take a closer look at that particular pot over there?" He pointed vaguely at the vendor's right. As soon as the man obliged, the Time Lord gave Oswin a meaningful _watch this_ look. The Doctor made a show of looking at the pot as if analyzing a valuable object, and made several 'hmm's with various inflections, causing Oswin to smile despite herself.

"You know, I'm not convinced that this was one hundred percent locally made" the Doctor said. "I don't suppose you could be so kind as to verify this seal for me?"

"Not at all, sir" the man said. The salesman used one hand to press on his right forearm. His forearm instantly opened like a lid, revealing a complex circuitry.

Oswin's eyes bugged, and she looked with fascination as the man hovered his hand over the circuitry until a minimalistic keyboard display appeared. He typed something into it and then scanned the seal on the pot.

"And there you have it, sir" the salesman said, as soon as a hologram of a certificate written in an alien language replaced the keyboard.

"Thank you very much" the Doctor said, as he left a few coins fall into the man's hand.

Oswin was still in a state of disbelief when the Time Lord rejoined her to walk through the bazaar.

"So every human looking vendor on this moon is actually a cyborg?" she asked.

"I think they'd prefer to be called bio electronic humanoids."

"But are they?"

"I actually have no clue. We're in a parallel universe, so everything I thought I knew about a planet can and probably will turn out to be wrong."

"But you knew that the vendor was a robot."

A smile appeared on the Doctor's lips. "I actually saw someone else do that and thought I'd give it a try myself."

"Wait, so then you have no more knowledge about this bizarre place than me."

"And that's why I love parallel worlds. So unpredictable! So many new things to find and see." The Doctor grinned and handed Oswin the pot.

The girl looked at it and her nose crinkled. "This is one ugly pot."

"Oy" the Doctor said, frowning. He paused to look at it. "Actually, you're right. But you never know when a distasteful looking decorative pot could come in handy."

"So if we're in a parallel world, how exactly did we get here? I mean I know it was only my second time flying the ship, but I doubt I managed to crash it right through the fabric of time."

The Doctor pressed his lips together to hide his impending smile. "Well..."

"That better not be a joke about women drivers, Doctor."

He immediately put his serious face on. "No, of course not. Now let's get going."

"Where, exactly? I'll probably be stuck here until I can get my translator to work properly."

"No need for that, because I've got the best translator in the universe right on my ship. Actually, it _is_ the ship."

"Now you're just pulling my leg."

"No, no, all we need to do is get you onboard so that the TARDIS knows to make the connection and start translating for you."

"Is this the part where we're supposed to compare whose ship is better? Because, crash damage aside, mine has an actual entertainment room. With a dart board and everything."

The Doctor smiled inwardly as he led Oswin through the busy streets. They weren't far away now, just a few twists and turns. The Doctor rounded a couple of more corner turns towards the alley where the TARDIS was. When he was finally there, he hanged back to let Oswin take a look at... an empty space.

"Wow" Oswin said, looking in awe. "That is one impressive invisibility cloak, I'll give you that."

"... what?" the Doctor said, frowning.

"Maybe a little too impressive?"

"My ship was supposed to be right here" the Doctor said, pawing at the empty space "I left it here only a few minutes ago, how can it be gone?"

"You think someone must have stolen it for parts?"

"How could have this have happened? And the poor thing was regenerating..."

Oswin frowned. "It was what?"

"Regenerating" he said, "it was damaged after the crash and had to rebuilt itself." The Doctor sighed. "And to think, until a few seconds ago my biggest fear was that the console room would redesign itself again."

Oswin looked around. "I'm sure there are some kind of officers of the law nearby who can sort this out. Let's go find 'em."

Since the Doctor couldn't stop staring at the empty space where the TARDIS had been, Oswin came over by his side and dragged him by the elbow.

"Well come on then" she said, leading him away, "pulling the puppy dog eyes won't solve anything. Well, it could, but it won't bring your ship back unless the one who stole it is a very impressionable 8 year old."

"You think a child could have taken my ship?" the Time Lord asked, frowning.

Oswin smiled "Parallel universe, remember, Doctor? Anything can happen."

Despite not locating any police officers among the chaotic movements and variations of aliens ambling about, the Doctor decided to just ask whatever salesmen looked most savvy. When Oswin argued that it would take them forever to get any useful information, the Time Lord countered that she shouldn't worry because this had happened before.

"You seriously need to think of installing an anti-theft device on that TARDIS of yours" Oswin said.

"But it's virtually indestructible. I shouldn't have to worry about people just... using a trolley to steal it." The Time Lord stopped in front of a stall with various ship parts on display. "Excuse me, have you seen a big blue wooden box anywhere?"

"Ah, one with little windows at the top and sign in the front?"

"Yes, exactly! Where have you seen it?"

The salesman pointed in the distance, behind the Doctor. "Right there."

Both him and Oswin turned around and noticed that the TARDIS had been placed onto a platform and it was surrounded by humanoids dressed in uniform.

"That is one wee little ship, Doctor" Oswin said, amused.

"Oy, I'll have you know that it's more than meets the eye."

"Well, either way, seems it's getting a lot of attention" she said, as they walked towards it, "don't suppose that could be a good thing?"

"It won't matter because the second we walk in there, I can just fly us out of this predicament."

The moment they got close enough, they noticed that the TARDIS had thick chains and padlocks surrounding it.

"... or not." The Doctor walked over to one of the uniforms. "Excuse me, why is that box kept locked up?"

"Our readings show that this device contains all manner of advanced technology, which could prove dangerous."

"Ah, well, that's where you're wrong. That's actually my ship and it's in no way dangerous when it's just standing there. I mean just look how harmless it is. Like a puppy dog."

The uniform turned to the Doctor with a grave expression. "That is _your_ ship, sir?"

Oswin leaned in. "He thinks it's better than mine, but frankly, I don't really see it."

The Doctor gently moved Oswin out of the way. "Yes, it is mine, and I'd very much like to have it back."

"The laws of Niabb state that entering the moon's atmosphere with this level of advanced technology is forbidden" the uniform said.

"Well, that little tidbit must have slipped my mind, but we'll be on our way and out of your hair in just a second if-"

"Breaking the Niabb law is a serious affair, sir."

The Doctor knew they were in trouble the moment the other uniforms began to advance towards them.

* * *

"I still don't see why they put me in here as well" Oswin said, inspecting the lasers that were surrounding their cell. "Are they going by mafia rules: your family, your friends, everyone has to pay?"

"Don't worry" the Doctor said "all of this is temporary."

"Well they took everything, including my tool belt that could have got us out of here. So I think _temporary_ just extended to _foreseeable future_."

"I wouldn't say that they took everything." The Doctor smiled as he revealed that he still had the sonic screwdriver. "So what were you saying about screwdrivers not needing to be sonic?"

* * *

**A/N**: After being a DW fan for years I finally decided to write a story for this show. Whether I succeeded in writing a proper one or not, well, that's up to you people to tell me. I'll be awaiting comments or rotten tomatoes (depending on the case). Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Oswin and the Doctor had been stuck in their cell for the better part of three hours, and boredom was starting to settle in. It would have been easy to disable the lasers that were surrounding them with the sonic screwdriver, but the Doctor couldn't attempt doing that when there were two guards patrolling the general area they were in. They were out of earshot, but still definitely close enough to still see if their prisoners would suddenly decide to make a run for it.

The Doctor had decided to wait until the guards would change shifts. But it seemed like that was still quite a while away, so the Time Lord settled himself down on the bench in their cell and waited.

"I can't believe they didn't take that glow stick" Oswin said in a low voice, "I suppose they really must have thought it was just a screwdriver."

"Most people do. A gun is universally recognized as something dangerous, but everyone tends to look the other way when they see a screwdriver."

Oswin shrugged. "A gun wouldn't really work for you anyway. Wouldn't go with the whole bowtie and sexy librarian thing you have going on."

The Doctor tried to hide the sudden discomfort he felt, only to realize who he was talking to. "Are you just flirting to pass the time?"

She smiled. "It's what I do. I wasn't a Junior Entertainment Manager for nothing."

"Now that I think about it, you never really said what that job entailed."

"Well, a girl has to keep a little bit of mystery about her."

"Oswin, you are basically a walking mystery to me" The Doctor said. 'And an impossibility', he added in his mind.

"Oh, well cheers for that" Oswin said. She paused. "I think. And you know, you're no less cryptic than me: weird box-like ship, sonic screwdriver. Doctor who, exactly?"

"Just... the Doctor."

"That's a profession, not a name."

"Well maybe the profession was named after me."

"But that would mean you're older than-" Oswin turned to face him. "No. No way are you-"

"Nine hundred years old?"

"You are a lunatic" Oswin laughed. "And, if you're not lying, definitely too dishy for nine hundred."

"There you go doing your flirty thing again."

"Which doesn't really seem to work" she said, intrigued, "everything just sort of bounces right off you."

"That's because some of us are too busy trying to figure out a way out of here without being seen."

"You'll need to do something about that, you know. You think way too much for someone your age. You could pop a blood vessel or give yourself a heart attack or something."

"Oy" the Doctor said, frowning, "now that's not very nice to say."

"I knew you'd prefer I went back to the flirting." Oswin grinned, and sat beside the Doctor on the bench. But her smile soon disappeared. "So what happened back on the Asylum? You and your friends never came to rescue me."

"It's... complicated."

"Well, un-complicate it. My mum always said that everything could be reduced to a few sentences if you tried hard enough. Except for those Agatha Christie books. She could never keep track of all those characters."

"Well this is a parallel world, Oswin."

"Oh no, you can't just go saying that and expect it to explain everything. I'm part genius, remember?"

The Doctor smiled. "So am I. Except without the _part_."

"Oh, you and I are definitely going to have to have a genius competition the second we escape."

"I don't know, I think I'd be a few points ahead since I'm the one who's going to get us out of here."

"Yes, but what about you locked-up ship? Could you pick a lock without the help of your screwdriver?"

The Doctor paused to think. She had a point.

"I, on the other hand, only need two bobby pins to do it" Oswin said proudly.

"Well what if it's an electronic lock?"

Oswin fell quiet for a moment. "Okay, then, let's just assume we're on equal grounds for now."

"Fair enough."

Their conversation drifted off as soon as they head the guards getting ready to end their shift. The Doctor had visited Niabb before and knew that the uniforms usually left a few minutes earlier, before the others would walk in to relieve them. The Time Lord just hoped that this parallel world wouldn't be all that different from the last time he had visited the moon and was thrown in jail (something he hoped Oswin wouldn't find out. She'd probably trust him less if she knew he tended to end up in prisons so often.)

As soon as the guards were out of sight, The Doctor walked over to the lasers that were keeping them inside their cell and began to scan them with his sonic screwdriver.

"You never said, you know" Oswin told him, "the complicated reason why you and your friends just disappeared on me."

"Ah, thought you'd have forgotten about that."

"Well I might not be fully genius, but I'm still clever enough to remember things."

The doctor took a breath. "Oswin, I told you that we both crashed through the fabric of time and ended up here. I didn't say that we came from the same universe."

Oswin shook her head, trying to comprehend what that meant. "But we met before, in the Asylum, and that was in the same universe."

The Doctor wondered how she would react if he told her about what had happened to her in his reality. He looked over at her face, and saw that the usual playfulness was gone, replaced by worry and confusion. The Time Lord wasn't used to avoiding the truth, but he knew that it would be more simple approach, given their situation.

"Even if we met in that universe, it doesn't mean that I originated from the same world as you."

Oswin blinked at him. "How's that possible?"

"Herein lies that complication I told you about."

"You're serious about this, aren't you? We don't come from the same world."

The Doctor nodded.

"But how can you be certain of a thing like that?"

"Just trust me."

Her trademark smile appeared on Oswin's face again. "You know more than you're saying, don't you?"

The Doctor smiled back. "Nine hundred years of time and space, Oswin. I've seen quite a few things."

"_Time _and space? What'd you mean time and space?"

"Remember when I told you that my ship is rather remarkable?"

"You're still dead-set on convincing me that your little blue box is better than the Starship Alaska, aren't you?"

When the lasers around them suddenly disappeared, the Doctor turned to Oswin with an expression of confidence. "Trust me, I won't have to do any kind of convincing."

"_Now_ who's flirting, Doctor" Oswin said, raising an eyebrow.

The Time Lord waved it off and then placed the screwdriver back in his pocket. "Come on, let's get going."

Once they were out of the cell area, the two went over to the box that contained all manner of confiscated items from the prisoners. Oswin retrieved her belt, and the Doctor found his psychic paper. They were on their way out when they heard someone call after them.

"Hey! Hey, you two!"

The Doctor angled his head to one of the other cells and saw a Shon, a rat-like man who was frantically waving at them.

"Listen, you've got to bust me out of here" he said, panicky, "I'm completely innocent!"

"What do you mean you're innocent?"

"The soldiers, they caught me because I found out what they're actually doing to anyone who buys anything in the bazaar from them. They locked me up to protect their secret."

"What secret?" Oswin asked.

"You let me out, and I'll tell you everything I know."

Oswin turned to the Doctor.

"I don't think that would be a wise idea" he said. "Shon people are notorious for not keeping their word. Why do you think people who are untrustworthy are compared to rats? As untrusting as a Shonnian rat, that's what that saying used to be like originally"

Oswin waited for a second, absorbing his words. Then a grin surfaced. "You just made all that up, didn't you?"

The Doctor looked sheepish. "That doesn't change the fact that we should get out of here before the guards return. What's it going to look like to them when they see two of their prisoners out of their cell and helping another one?"

"Doctor, we've already broken the law today. What's once more going to hurt?" When the Doctor looked uncertain, she added: "Oh come on, you heard the man, he knows this great secret. And I don't know about you, but I just can't resist finding out a good secret."

The Time Lord sighed and moved over to the prisoner's lasers to disable them. "This secret better be something really useful."

"Oh, it is" the prisoner said, "and also, hey! We don't much like to be called rats around here. It would be like calling you a— a—"

"A giant Chin-Face?" Oswin suggested.

"Yes, exactly!"

"I'll have you know that my chin is perfectly proportionate to my face" the Doctor said. "And are you really making comments about the person who's disabling your cell?"

"Point taken, sorry" the prisoner said, his whiskers moving in a manner that showed he was feeling guilty.

"What's your name?" Oswin asked.

"Trip."

The lasers suddenly disappeared.

"Well, Trip" The Doctor said, pocketing his sonic screwdriver, "you better be good at running because it looks like the guards are getting back."

The trio made sure to run out of sight the second they heard footsteps closing in.

Two Niabb soldiers were casually walking inside, looking bored.

"So they're really letting you retire after today?" one of them asked.

"They said that I'll be out of here as soon as my shift ends. As long as no more new prisoners cause us trouble."

"Sure, like a girl and a librarian will ever cause us any problems."

* * *

The Doctor, Oswin and Trip ducked into a back alley full of boxes to catch their breath.

"So you were really captured and imprisoned because of a misunderstanding" Trip said, "and your name's the Doctor – no last name – 'just the Doctor, and please stop asking anymore questions about it'."

"That pretty much covers all of it, yes" the Doctor said.

"It's okay if you don't believe him" Oswin said, "he'll stop coming off as goofball the more you get to know him." She paused. "Or maybe that's just because I got used to all the craziness. I'm never quite sure."

"About that secret you said you found out..." the Doctor pressed.

"Ah, yes. Well, the soldiers here – I'm sure you've seen them – they're not who they seem to be."

"You mean the scales aren't real?" Oswin asked. "Because it would make sense why they can't talk to women. Scales are always very unflattering."

"Well, you're half right. They're not real. Not anymore, at least."

"They're cyborgs?" the Doctor asked, frowning. "But that makes no sense, the Niabb people have always been alien."

"Maybe that was true on a world that's less... parallel than this one" Oswin pointed out.

"The soldiers stumbled over a large supply of Cybermen schematics a few months ago" Trip said, "and ever since then, they've all experimented with the technology... so much until they all became more machine than alien. That's why it's forbidden to enter the moon with advanced technology. They're scared someone could become stronger than them."

"But you said that this is affecting everyone who buys items from them in the bazaar" the Doctor said.

"The soldiers are now slowly loosing what makes them alien. You know, feelings. That's why they recently created a machine that takes memories. In exchange for goods. Because they can't recapture their former selves any other way, they've become desperate. They're tricking innocent tourists into giving up their memories instead of money."

"Tricking them, how?" Oswin asked.

Trip shrugged. "If I knew that, then I'd probably have missing memories." He stopped to think. "Oh no, maybe I really do have missing memories! How would I even know if I did, I mean it's not possible to tell anyway-"

Oswin placed her hands on Trip's shoulders. "Okay, you need to calm down, alright? Everything will be fine. We'll sort this out, right, Doctor?"

The Time Lord looked uncertain. "There's a — well, a _teensy_ problem with that. Not a big deal, not even worth mentioning, actually."

"What is it?"

"My ship is still very much locked and watched over by at least a dozen soldiers."

"Oh, I can help with that" Trip said enthusiastically. "I can cause a distraction, no problem. I'm really good at disturbing people." He paused. "That didn't come out like I intended."

"But how can one man cause such a ruckus that an entire platoon of Niabb soldiers will be distracted?" Oswin asked.

* * *

Trip poked his head out from behind a corner and seized up the soldiers that were around the TARDIS. There were plenty of them patrolling and inspecting the ship, much more than the three of them could take.

The rat-faced man took a deep breath.

"FIRE!"

Confusion was a wonderful thing to witness. From behind another building, the Doctor and Oswin observed as the soldiers quickly scattered, trying to locate through the crowd where the voice had come from and, most importantly, where the fire was. Soon enough, all the soldiers were away from their post, leaving the TARDIS alone.

"You still want to tell me that helping Trip escape was a bad idea?" Oswin asked, as they ran towards the ship.

"No, no, you were right. The next time I hesitate to break the law, I'll be sure and ask you to give me a nudge in the wrong-but-ultimately-right direction."

Oswin smiled. "There's going to be a next time?"

"Well we still have an entire moon to save from mutant Cybermen, don't we?"

When they reached them, The Doctor inspected the locks and chains that were surrounding the TARDIS. He quickly pulled the sonic screwdriver and started to unlock them. As soon as he was done, he used his key to open the doors to the ship, and motioned for Oswin to enter.

Her jaw dropped a few inches as soon as they were inside. "Is this real? Is this place actually, properly real? Or am I just asleep, still stuck in that prison?"

The Doctor chuckled. "It's real." He suddenly remembered something. "So is it better than the Starship Alaska?"

"Absolutely." She lowered her voice. "Though not decorated better."

"Oy, I heard that!"

"Well I'm not mad about the color scheme."

"What's wrong with the color scheme?"

"There's just not much color, for starters. It's not even decorated, not a picture in sight."

"Well it's a time machine, Oswin, not an art gallery."

Oswin did a double take. "It's a what?"

"Time machine" the Doctor said simply. "Didn't I mention this before? I though I mentioned it."

"You're kidding! This is a time machine?"

"This is where I remind you why I said that this ship is remarkable."

"But wait a minute" Oswin said, "that means we can just travel a few months before all of this and stop the soldiers from ever finding the Cybermen schematics."

"I'm afraid it doesn't exactly work that way, Oswin. There are rules that come with time traveling."

"Like don't step on any butterflies."

The Doctor smiled. "Something like that." He moved over to the console. "Well, then, let me just wake her up and we'll be on our way."

"_Her_? Don't tell me you're one of those blokes who treats his ship like a car and gives it a name."

"And I suppose you didn't call your ship anything?"

Oswin shrugged. "No, not really."

"Don't you think that's a little insensitive?"

Oswin laughed. "So where are we going exactly?"

"I'm sending us right in the heart of the bazaar where the soldiers' leader should be. We'll have a proper talk with him about this whole thing."

"Sounds dangerous."

"You can count on that" the Time Lord said, enthusiastic.

"So this is the kind of thing you often, then" Oswin said, curious. "Save the world."

The Doctor punched in a few coordinates. "Oh, absolutely."

* * *

**A/N**: I had no idea it would be this fun to write for these characters, but I'm really having a ball. I just hope I'm able to keep them in character. In case I slip, please let me know via comments or a swift virtual smack to the back of the head. Thanks for reading!


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